Movie Review - Raajneeti

“Pig war” is a great word in corporate word. It allows you to describe a dirty job with proper decorum. But in case (just in case), if you want to use a cheaper word, a fitting option could be: Raajneeti!



Acting cast: Naseeruddin Shah, Nana Patekar, Ajay Devgan, Manoj Bajpai, Sara Thompson, and Half Ranbir Kapoor.
Star cast: Arjun Rampal, Katrina Kaif, Nikhila Tirkha, and Half Ranbir Kapoor.
Director: Prakash Jha
Producer: Prakash Jha
Genre: Drama
Length: 3 hrs
Certificate: U/A

(While I take you to a ride ahead, I should admit that I have been slightly heavier on criticizing side. Differentiating Star-cast with acting cast is driven by the same approach. I might use eagle’s eye to reveal minute details of some scenes. Please forgive me for the odds. Further to maintain the decorum of the forum, few words (/statements) have been changed. To read original review, please visit my blog: http://GCreativity.blogspot.com).

The movie starts with Naseer delivering a “carrot for public” speech against ruling party. In the next scene, he is seen making khichdi but ends up making love. This (?) fills a guilt feeling in him and he decides to go away from everything. Bharti gets pregnant and the delivered baby is abandoned in a boat in river. Bharti marries Chandra Pratap (younger brother of Bhanu Pratap who leads Rashtrawadi party). Bhanu Pratap suffers an attack and control goes to younger brother Chandra. Here starts the Raajneeti as Bhanu’s son Manoj Bajpai believes crown should come to him instead of going to his uncle). The way Duryodhan met Karna in Mahabharata, Manoj meets Ajay Devgan to be aided by each other’s power. And then there is BLOOD!

It is true that art movies are no longer in production. But there are producers like Prakash Jha who always come up with a theme as strong (social) as an art and as spicy as a commercial one. Having movies like Mrityudand, Gangajal, and Apharan listed in his resume, he has this time chosen few additional spoons of tastemakers which makes this film closer to a commercial one. The effort has come out in an “ugly” way! Read carefully, it’s a complement.

A movie having Naseer, Nana, Ajay Devgan, and Manoj Bajpai ensures that acting will flood the screen. Then there are Katrina Kaif, Arjun Rampal and half of Ranbir Kapoor. Someone who recently rated Katrina Kaif as “one of the most over hyped product” is once more correct. Arjun Rampal has still not learnt anything other than anger, confused, locked teeth expressions. At times, Ranbir Kapoor has looked lost, especially when he is in front of Katrina Kaif. KAT effect? Huh!

Violence in the movie is very straight and comes as quick as a move in rapid chess game. Some planning or manipulation could have made it look better. Though director had only 3 hours to show everything, storyline could have been spanned over few more days. One birthday celebration, one marriage, three pregnancies (out of which two seem totally illogical and were not required, I am really not able to understand the mystery), enumerated murders, court cases, 2 communities getting destroyed, and this all when its peak election time). This all makes this movie a Mahabharata. Movie makes one understand why political leaders are not able to put their focus on public issues. They have bigger internal challenges to handle in project.

You might have related (or you might want to relate) this movie to Godfather, but I differ here. Though it’s between two communities, though the son from outside the family settles the final things but first of all, Godfather was about brutal authority. Godfather was about planning and then execution, gaining power from scratch, high degree manipulation, and framing situations etc. Godfather was never about immediate revenge. Remember that one classic line: Revenge tastes sweet when it’s served chilled. None of this was found in Raajneeti.

Katrina Kaif for last some time has started looking mature. More of so when paired with likes of Ranbir Kapoor. This could be only my observation, but if else, not a good sign for fans. I somehow started gaining this impression from APKGK itself.

Movie in the music is out of scope. Few other points which go misaligned are: In all such Raajneeti, why couldn’t Naseer stay and take things ahead? Why Nana allows Ranbir to Kill Ajay when he himself didn’t kill Ajay.

Dialogues like “Raajneeti me murdo ko dafnaya nahin jata” have come out superb. Dialogue delivery, face expressions, and sometimes even silence make audience realize the difference between actors and stars. While so many reverse sweeps have been there in the movie, you will like a masterstroke from director: in the last scene where Ranbir is leaving Katrina, love is expressed between two and thin line of respect is kept intact. Lastly when Ajay’s father offers a drive to Ranbir to airport, I smelled one more car blast on screen but it didn’t happen ;)

My Rating: 3.5 / 5

Something is missing there. It’s happening but so does news channel. You don’t call it entertainment. Against all these minor odds, Raajneeti is a must watch. It belongs to third league of movies.